Sunday, February 5, 2017

I took Eric down to the Elks Lodge for the first half of Super Bowl. It was great to see him laughing and smiling with folks. He spends most of his time standing up or laying down, so he was on his feet a lot there, which aggravates his achilles tendon. He simply can't win.

We came home at halftime and within 15 minutes he was in bed and asleep.

He has started getting Acupuncture twice a week for pain relief. He's two treatments into it, it's expected to take 5 or 6 before he notices any improvement. He will be speaking with his doctors tomorrow about his pain level.

We've been blessed with some donations to the GoFundMe account this week. We ask that you continue to spread the word about our situation and consider helping out. Our finances are a real concern for Eric, we know God will provide however the bills keep coming and it's added stress.

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

My oncologist was very pleased with the pathology results. My next round of chemo starts in 2 weeks. I will be taking the exact same oral chemo as before but in a stronger dose. There will be a total of six rounds of treatments. Each round will consist of 14 days of chemo two times a day and then 7 days off.

At this point, we are unsure how my body will react but do not anticipate anything very serious.

I meet with my surgeon Feb 9th. He will review my new chemo schedule to help him determine when to reverse my ileostomy.

In the meantime, I am still dealing with the pain and recovery from my Jan 4th surgery. Please continue to pray for me and my family.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

We've updated the GoFundMe campaign. Please share it with folks. Eric is really struggling over not being able to support us through this. Every bit, anything you can spare, would help ease his burden.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Today was a crazy day. Eric has been in rough pain for weeks, although he says it's a level 3 or 4, his physical being tells me it's much higher than that. Let's go back a few days ... Last Saturday we ended up at the Providence Portland Medical Center Emergency Department for blood work and a CT scan to see if there was any infection or signs of leakage from the surgical site. Fortunately, everything was ok, unfortunately it meant that the pain was around to stay. He called his surgeon to speak with him about things yesterday and this morning we got a call saying that he'd be going back into the hospital for an outpatient procedure tomorrow, then it was changed to 3 pm today, and then at 9:15 am we were told to be at the hospital by 10 am. And we were. And in they went ... and Eric is very well aware of what his pain level now is. According this this scale, he's been living in the area between 6 and 7 ... NOT a good place to be. So, what is going on? Well the good news is that everything is healing well. Unfortunately that anal fissure is still there and because of the proximity to the surgical site, it's adding to the irritation that comes with a major surgery. PLUS his bladder is right next to the site also, so when his bladder begins to fill, it presses on that area and his pain increases.He is now moving to a different medication regime AND will start Acupuncture on Monday, which his surgeon says can do wonders!

Thursday, January 12, 2017

At no time did I think I'd be reposting this from Eric's Facebook page this early in the year. emphasis added by me ... because you can't add formatting to a facebook post and THIS deserves it!!

GOD IS GREAT!!!

I will let Marissa update all the blogs but wanted to share this right away.

Dr. Whiteford just called me with the results of the tumor biopsy. I know that the chemo and radiation will get all the credit but I know the outcome would have been different if not for all the prayers also. I give God the credit, with the help of the chemo and radiation.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Surgery went well as has his recovery. Tumor shrunk from golf ball size to nickel sized. Only had to remove 8" of colon vs. a potential 24". He's been up and walking, eating and laughing.

Here is a cropped photo of what's been done, the blue area covers his colostomy bag. There are 4 laparascopy incisions in his abdomen for the one surgeon to do the colon release for reattachment and a large incision from his belly button down to the pubic bone for the Cancer, rectum and colon removal.

He has another pouch where you see the tape, this is gathering the post-surgical drainage.